Question 3: Draft

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Which media institutions might distribute my media product:

• Nat Mag (Hearst)
• Time, inc. (IPC)
• Townsquare Media (AOL)

The 3 companies above are the major media institutions for distributing magazines.

Hearst

Through research on Hearst I found out that they do not distribute music magazines and therefore there would be no competition within the partnerships. In addition to, Hearst have other popular magazine brands such as 'The Oprah' magazine. This could be a good media institution to partner with. On the other hand, Hearst not distributing any music magazines may have a negative impact as this means that they're not very experienced with this genre.

Time, Inc
Time, Inc (formerly known as IPC Media) is a very popular media institution in the UK and the US, therefore with their large audience it could give a lot of attention towards my media product.

Townsquare Media

Townsquare Media is a media institution which also publishes magazines. They distribute the popular rap magazine 'XXL' which means they would be a suitable media institution for my product because they are experienced. 
Furthermore, the 'XXL' magazine is the only rap/hip-hop centered magazine that Townsquare Media has published and therefore if they were to distribute my magazine there would be less competition that I would have to go against.

Question 2: Draft

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social group that I am mainly focusing on are young males. One way my music magazine represents this social group is the use of the dollar sign ($) inside the letter 'O' in my masthead. This is because not only does the dollar sign indicate money, which is what many rappers like to rap about, but also because young males that are interested in rap are often money-oriented people so it will catch my target audience's attention.

Furthermore, other than just targeting young males in general, I am more specifically targeting young males that like both rap and grime music and have an average or below average income. This is because many young men that are from a low or average income family aspire to work hard and be rich like many famous rappers, setting them as role models and having a similar mindset such as Drake's famous line "Started from the bottom, now we're here".

Also, my target social group would come from urban cities, preferably from the UK, Another way my front cover represents this social group of young males from urban areas is from the cover star. This is because my cover star looks serious and is wearing "road" clothes which is the way many teenagers, especially in cities such as London or Birmingham, like to dress. Furthermore, the serious look from my cover star indicates aggression/hostility which is often the nature of young males as many teenagers naturally follow a rebellious lifestyle to oppose their relatively low position in society. 

A third way my media product represents the social group that I'm targeting is that many young people like shows, parties and rap battles. In my contents page I informed the readers of a rap battle event which is something they would be interested in.  

Question 1: Draft

Q1: In what way does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a music magazine?

In my front cover I have added a masthead, cover lines, a puff, price and a barcode. These follow the conventions of most music magazines which is why it fits in with real media products. For example, my masthead has a bold title with a red background similar to the 'XXL' magazine which is one of the popular music magazines.
Another way my front cover uses forms of real media products is my placement of the masthead, cover lines, puff and barcode. This is because my masthead is placed at the top of the magazine which is what virtually all magazines do. Furthermore, my cover lines are moved to the side which brings focus on the cover star and the main cover line that is "A Squeezy". Also, my puff is placed in the right side of my front cover, towards the top. This follows the conventions of a real music magazine because most front covers have a puff on the right side. In addition to, I have also included a price and barcode in my front cover which is what every magazine includes, however, some magazines may include these at the back. Lastly, I have also included a dateline which is additional information many magazines have to indicate when the magazine was distributed.
My main image follows the conventions of a real music magazine as my magazine is centered around the rap/hip-hop genre and the cover star is dressed more like a rapper which fits in with the genre. Furthermore, after my analysis on the 'XXL' magazine I have found that many of the cover stars on front pages look directly at the camera and look serious, so I implemented that into my own front cover. Furthermore, my cover star is crossing his arms which gives off a 'bossy' look which is something that is consistently seen rap/hip-hop magazines. Lastly, the background is plain an the main image itself has a dark theme to it which i think fits with the rap genre as darkness often indicates something serious and sometimes bad which is what is something many rappers like to rap about.


One convention that I have followed in my contents page is that I have added photographs of the artists which are featured in the magazine to inform the reader on who the main rappers are and since many people like these artists then it would encourage the reader to read the whole magazine. Another way I have followed the conventions of a real magazine is by giving information on the magazine and numbering the pages which is what all magazines do in their content pages. For example, in my contents page I informed the reader that on page 12. there is information on the artists new album so that if they only want to know about that particular artist they can easily manage throughout the magazine and they will enjoy everything that they're reading about.


One convention that I have followed in my double page spread is I used a drop cap at the start of my article which makes it stand out and is very eye-catching.
Another convention that I have followed is that my main image is spread across the whole DPS which brings focus to that one image and since the article is about that one particular rapper, the one image that I have used is the only one that should be included.